Page 69 of Iron Crown

I am a selfish bastard, I reminded myself,but this isforher.

“Eoghan.” She whimpered my name so sweetly that it sent a shudder up my spine. But nothing prepared me for the bittersweet longing I felt when she whispered, “Husband.”

I dropped my head into her chest, my breath warming the space between us as I inhaled the scent of us together. Her bodyand mine, her slick arousal, the most dangerously intoxicating perfume I would ever know.

My voice shook as I whispered, “I wish I could lay you down on a bed of orchids.”

I flipped her onto her back, pressing myself between her thighs, rotating my hips so I rubbed against her clit.

“I wish I could paint you for hours, and watch you sleep in the morning light.” I kissed her mouth, taking her breath, stealing it for myself again. “I want to cut your palm, and chain you to me forever. I want to make vows for eternity.”

“Then do it!” she moaned.

Christ, I wish I could. I wish I were the kind of man who could take her in the throes of passion and selfishly extract a promise that we’d never part, because that was what I wanted in my selfish, monstrous heart.

I kissed her neck, her chest, tasting the sweat of her skin.

“Do it,” she whispered, as she placed her left palm between us. “Bind us!”

She wanted to handfast.

I wanted to weep.

I took her hand, tempted as I was to reach for my blade, but didn’t.

She says the sweetest things in the throes of passion… such lovely promises that she’d never keep.

I put her palm to my lips, then bit down on the skin, marking it with my teeth. Just for a moment, I could mark her as mine. It would fade in the morning, but for now, I could mark her. Just for now… I could content myself with just this moment.

I knew that the moment would never be enough, and I would walk away starved for her. But I could live in the illusion for now.

“I love you,” I whispered. “I love you, Wife. I love you, my darling Muse. I love you more than you will ever know.”

“I love you, too,” she said between beautiful, melodic gasps. “I love you so much. I’m yours. I’m yours, Eoghan. I’m yours…”

She said her vows, her pleas, her gentle recitation of all the words I wanted. The lies filled my ears, and I was not at all insulted. I felt the sweetness of her intention.

“Please, Eoghan,” she said, placing her left hand between us. “Do it.”

She came once more, my cock strangling inside her, as I groaned through the pleasure, holding myself back until my balls ached.

“No, Kira,” I groaned against her, holding on to the last of my humanity with both hands. “Not like this.”

She groaned. “Thenwhen?”

“Tomorrow,” I whispered… “Or the next day…”

“Eoghan!” She dug her nails into my skin, letting me know her displeasure without words as I kept moving myself inside her, feeling her clench around me until I grew dizzy with pleasure.

I groaned, wrapping my arm around her, our hands interlaced as I pressed her against the mattress.

“Not like this.” My jaw was so tense that I could barely speak at all. “Not now. Not when we’re on the brink of war.”

“What better time than now?” Her whine was sweet and desperate, as she let out a keening cry of pleasure as my tip grazed the sensitive spot inside her heat.

I was barely holding on. I was a wire pulled taut, ready to snap!

“No, Kira!” I growled. “Not now. Not when we’re afraid. Not when our son is far away.”

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